Student Loan Forgiveness - New Federal Student Loan Repayment Plan Offers Debt Relief Hope

Crushing student loan debt is hammering college graduates. Student loan defaults are soaring toward new records. College loan borrowers have called for debt relief. But now President Obama has proposed faster government-backed loan consolidation and loan forgiveness plans to help borrowers repay their college debts and give a boost to the American economy.

President Obama's decision to expand education loan forgiveness to more students now could very well mean that loans you took out to pay for college may get much easier to handle. Details of his new "Pay As You Earn" program, outlining new rules for repayment, are still emerging.

Loan consolidation at a lower interest rate is the main objective of the plan. Three major features of the plan benefiting college graduates struggling to make their monthly educational loan payments are:

Repayment Term

Each loan that would be consolidated retains its original repayment term. Thus, borrowers will pay less interest over the life of the loan than they would under the traditional consolidation programs.

Interest Rate

A fixed rate (not to exceed 8.25%) after applying the 0.25% interest rate reduction to qualifying loans being consolidated. Lower interest rates means more of the monthly payment pays off the principal balance.

Electronic Debit Payment Benefit

Those who take advantage of this new consolidation plan are eligible for an additional 0.25% interest rate reduction if their loan is repaid through the Department of Education's automatic debit system.

The loan consolidation program will only be made available during a 6-month window, Jan. 2012 through June 2012, so borrowers need to act fast.

The government wants those people holding both private and government student loans to be allowed to consolidate their debts right now into one new government loan. Such a move could slash their interest rates, and save them money in the process as the federal government speeds up roll-out of an income-based repayment program that was originally slated to begin in 2014.

College graduates would still be responsible to keeping making payments on their loans, but those revised payments would be capped at just 10% of their income.

And, best of all for those who borrowed tens of thousands of dollars to finance their college education, their loans would then be forgiven after 20 years.

It is still not entirely clear how many students the new law is aimed at helping; estimates range from 450,000 to upwards of 6 million.

When Congress passed the Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBRP) in 2010 -- the new law which drops the monthly payment to 10% of discretionary income and would forgive all college student debt after 20 years -- there was a long waiting period before it became a reality; it was originally not set to go into effect until 2014. Now, the new terms would take effect in Jan. 2012.

Low-income borrowers would benefit the most. If a student loan borrower qualifies, then monthly payments are based only on any income above 150% of the poverty line ($16,335, the current 2011 U.S. poverty threshold.)

For a graduate living on their own, IBRP payments would be based on what he or she earned over this $16,335. Moreover, if the graduate is unemployed and has no income at all, then no monthly loan payment would be due at all.

Although it is unclear how this monthly reporting would be done, this new debt relief plan still represents a positive step forward toward resolving the debacle affecting untold numbers of college graduates who are struggling to make their college debt repayments. More detailed information on how to get student loans forgiven, visit FindHow2.com.

Steve Johnson is writer and publisher of FindHow2.com, offering hundreds of free articles on credit restoration, debt reduction, and personal financial management. One of the most popular recent topics at FindHow2.com includes a review of new student loan forgiveness incentives to help lower monthly payments for graduates paying off education loans.

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Sallie Mae Offers Tuition Insurance: Buyer Beware!

Sallie Mae has recently added a tuition insurance plan to students and parents. The plan is offered in partnership with Next Generation Insurance Group. According to the NY Times, however, the plan reimburses at different rates for physical and mental health withdrawals from school.

While physical causes for withdrawal result in 100% tuition reimbursement, mental health withdrawals from school are only reimbursed at 75%, and often require a multiple day hospital stay. The irony is that mental health issues are most likely to be the reason a student will have to withdraw from school.

There are some underwriters who offer equal coverage for physical and mental illness withdrawal but Sallie Mae chose to partner with a provider who insists on disparate treatment.

Federal law now mandates equal coverage for mental and physical illness where employers offer insurance for mental health, however tuition insurance is only based on health, but is not actually health insurance and therefore doesn't fall within these rules against disparate treatment. According to Ken Libertoff, a Vermont consumer advocate, parents need to be aware that there is a fatal flaw in these plans.

Premiums for Sallie Mae's tuition plan can go as high as $599 for $50,000 of coverage. But students can get free insurance for $5,000 of coverage, and following the article in the NY Times, Sallie Mae started offering 100% mental health coverage to students who take the free coverage. One forgiving provision in Sallie Mae's coverage allows students to purchase the coverage even after the school year has begun, allowing a backdoor out for students whose mental health issues may be in check at the beginning of the year, and want to give school a try, only to realize that they're in over their heads, emotionally, and need to drop out for mental health reasons.

The coverage is generally not available for an illness that was "active" when the student enrolled in the school, however conditions such as anxiety or depression may be exempt from this disqualification even if being treated prior to enrollment. About 1,200 private schools offer some sort of tuition insurance, and many of those schools make it mandatory for new students. At most colleges, however, less than 10 percent of parents sign up for tuition insurance.

Whether Sallie Mae will equalize its coverage for both physical and mental health issues on all its tuition insurance policies remains to be seen.

Marcy Einhorn is a New York attorney and The Money Coach.

Marcy is available as a speaker for community organizations and business events, and also offers confidential, personal money coaching. Contact Marcy@nylifeordebt.com for more information.

http://www.nylifeordebt.com/

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